How to take care of a baby rabbit (with photo) - tips

Video: How to raise and care for newborn baby rabbits

Content

Steps
Advice
Warning
What you need

With the number of hares increasing in urban areas, the probability of finding hare nests is more and more than ever. Unfortunately, the nest is often left unattended, and the young hares brought out of the nest by humans are unlikely to survive without the availability of a skilled veterinarian or wildlife conservation officer. High care. In many countries, it is illegal to take care of hares unless you are a licensed conservation worker. If it is necessary to take care of the baby rabbits in the meantime to bring them to your veterinarian or wildlife conservator, then you should read this article for more help.

Steps

Part 1 of 5: Rabbit Shelter Preparation

You will need to determine if your rabbit really needs care. The mother rabbit can be very discreet; It leaves its nest to drive away predators, not abandoning its offspring. If you find the nest, do not touch it.If they need help (for example, a mother rabbit is dead on the road), you need to take her to see your veterinarian or wildlife conservation officer.
- Wild cotton-tailed rabbits (wild cottontails) (United States) under weaning often have white spots on their forehead. Others are born without spots. Some rabbits will remain "speckled" throughout their lives and others disappear after adulthood. The presence or absence of spots is not necessarily proof of the rabbit's age or the need for care.
- In the event that the baby rabbits are moved to avoid a dangerous situation (such as avoiding predators), this is only a temporary measure. Keep the baby rabbits in a safe, quiet place until the danger passes, then return them to the previously found area. The mother rabbit will not leave the baby rabbit if it smells of people. This is a chance the best let the rabbit survive. However, if the bunny is attacked by a cat, any the infected wound caused by the claw or teeth will KILL the baby rabbit within a few days. You need to take them to a wildlife conservator or veterinarian to give your rabbit a safe antibiotic.
Prepare a shelter for the rabbit to stay until help is received. You should take a wooden or plastic box with one side high and pour in clean soil that is free of pesticides, and then put a layer of hay on top (no wet grass). Fill the container with pesticide-free soil, and cover it with a layer of hay (no wet grass).
- Place a circular "nest" inside the dry grass for the baby rabbits. You can line it with fur that is attached to the actual nest or the fur of your rabbit. Do not use the feathers of other animals, especially predators.
- If you don't have rabbit fur, you can line the nest with a tissue or soft cloth in a thick layer.
- Place a heating pad, hot base, or incubator underneath the nest to keep warm. Warm only one side of the box so the bunny can move away if it feels too hot.
Place the rabbit gently into the nest. You can use gloves to carry them. Baby rabbits can carry disease and bleed from the bite. Most adult hares are infested with fleas, but baby rabbits do not, but there may be a few ticks that need to be removed. If you feel uncomfortable with this parasite, you can ask someone experienced to handle it. You need to be very careful with ticks as they MAY infect people. It is best to keep the rabbits out of the reach of humans (and other animals). In addition, you can still let your baby rabbit get used to the smell of people. They will return to their wild instincts as adults.
- Avoid petting the baby rabbit too much. This can stress them out from being overly annoyed and dying.
- Spread some fur, tissue, velvet, or cloth on the rabbit to keep it warm and safe.
- Be aware that hares can pass diseases to domestic rabbits. Therefore, you should use careful cleaning after handling the hares, or their waste, especially if you have a few other rabbits.
Place the roof over the box. If your rabbit is able to walk, keep the box tightly closed so that it cannot jump out. Even if only a few weeks old, rabbits are good at dancing! Make sure the box is shielded from the sun.
Let the rabbit sleep in the box for 3 days. Then, you can transfer them to a small pen. advertisement

Part 2 of 5: Make a Plan for your Rabbit

Unopened cotton-tailed rabbits need to be fed formula. If rabbits are already walking, they only need fresh green vegetables, hay, and water. You can place the food on a shallow dish for the larger rabbit. Once they eat the greens (no pesticides or herbicides) and run, they are ready to move to a better area with plenty of shielding for this little animal.
- When caring for your hares, you need to constantly feed them dry grass, water, and fresh vegetables just like in nature. Even young rabbits can nibble on green vegetables and hay.
- Baby rabbits that are left alone at first often do not get enough water. You need to give them Gatorade Lite instead of Pedialyte for the first few times. Pedialyte is good for most species, but provides too much starch for rabbits.
If your baby rabbits need a formula, give them a goat milk powder. The mother rabbits breastfeed at dusk and dawn for about five minutes, so the baby rabbits (depending on their size and age) only need to be fed twice a day. However, this formula is not as nutritious as breast milk, so you should also feed your baby rabbits more often. Baby rabbits that are of suckling age always have a small round belly (not bulging). When your tummy is full, it's time to feed them again.
- Most conservation staff often give rabbits a mixture of KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer-Milk Replaceable for Cats) and Multi-Milk available from the store at the reserve. You should add probiotics to the mixture, if available. This mixture needs to be thickened because the mother's milk is thicker than most other small mammals. This means that you need to mix about 3 parts solids (by volume) and 4 parts distilled water.
- Do not warm the mixture directly, but instead should warm it in a water bath: boil warm water and place the diluted bottle in it. Use the supplied small Miracle nipple breast or syringe. Use a 2.5 cc syringe for newborn rabbits and switch to a 5 cc syringe corresponding to increased rabbit stomach capacity. Keep the bunny in a sitting position so that it does not choke! Keep a tissue on your side so that it FAST to dry the milk into your rabbit's nostrils!
- DO NOT give cow's milk to rabbits. Cow's milk was originally for calves, not rabbits.
Never overfeed your rabbit. Bloating as well as diarrhea from overeating are a common cause of death in hares. The maximum amount per feed depends on the age of the rabbit. Be aware that the fluffy rabbits are small and should only be fed in less than the standard amount. Here are some general guidelines regarding the right amount of food for your rabbit:
- Newborn to one week of age: 2-2.5 cc / ml per feed, twice daily
- 1-2 weeks: 5-7 cc / ml per feed, twice daily (less if the rabbit is very young)
- 2-3 weeks: 7-13 cc / ml per feed, twice daily (less if the rabbit is very young)
- When the rabbit is 2-3 weeks old, you can feed him 'cattail grass', oat grass in pellets and water (add fresh green vegetables to the hare)
- 3-6 weeks: 13-15cc / ml per feed, twice daily (less if the rabbit is very young).
Stop feeding at the right time. Cotton rabbits are usually weaned for 3-4 weeks, so you should not breastfeed for more than 6 weeks. The long-eared rabbits are weaned after 9 weeks, so after week 9 you should slowly replace the powdered milk with banana and chopped apples. advertisement

Part 3 of 5: Feeding the Newborn Rabbits

Always be gentle and slow. You should let the rabbit eat at its own pace, and be gentle when touching their body. If you feed your rabbit too quickly, they can choke and die.
Protect newborn rabbits that have not opened their eyes. If the rabbit is too small and the eyes are only partially open, you can wrap them in a small warm cloth covering the eyes and ears so as not to scare them.
Put the teat of the bottle into the rabbit's mouth. Be extra careful when feeding your newborn rabbit by placing the teat in its mouth.
- Tilt the rabbit's head back slightly and place the nipple in the side teeth. You cannot put the nipple between their front teeth.
- After the nipple is in the middle of the side teeth, continue to slowly move forward.
- Gently twist the bottle to allow a small amount of milk to flow.
- In a few minutes, the bunny will begin to suck on the nipple.
- Continue to feed the baby rabbits with formula for 3-4 days, twice a day, with the last feeding being around the same evening as the mother's habit.
Stimulate the intestines of newborn rabbits. Newborn cotton rabbits need to be stimulated to go to the toilet after feeding. You can do this by gently petting the rabbit's genitals and anus using a cotton swab or wet cotton ball to mimic the mother's licking. advertisement

Part 4 of 5: Taking Rabbits Outside

Allow the rabbits to spend more time eating grass. As soon as the puppies are able to walk, they should practice walking on the lawn for a few hours.
- Keep your rabbit in a protective steel cage.You need to keep an eye on them to stay safe from enemies and other dangerous situations.
Begin to feed your rabbit without support. When your rabbit is four days old or older, place a milk and water tray with a lid in the cage.
- Watch your bunny's actions carefully. They should start eating without help.
- Check the humidity in the rabbit's cage. You need to add new formula to replace the spilled milk to ensure it is absorbed properly.
- Fill in powdered milk and water in the evening and in the morning. You should pay attention to the amount you add so the rabbit does not overeat.
- Do not pour too much water into the tray near the rabbit's cage as they can drown.
Change to new food after 4 days. Once the bunny has mastered its feeding, you can replace the new food in the cage. Some typical foods are:
- Fresh grass
- Hay
- A piece of bread
- Clover
- Grass cat's tail
- Chopped apples
- Oat
Always provide clean water. Rabbits need clean and fresh water. This helps to support digestion and the body stays well hydrated and healthy. advertisement

Part 5 of 5: Moving Rabbits Out in Nature

Wean your rabbit. Once your rabbits feed on their own, stop giving them formula and let them eat grass and other plants on their own. Make sure your rabbit is old enough to be weaned (3-5 weeks for cotton rabbits and more than 9 weeks for long-ear hares).
Stop acting on the rabbit. Rabbits need to be prepared to release them in the wild, so stop touching them if you can. Then they are less dependent on you and more self-sufficient.
Move the rabbit outdoors the entire time. Lock them in a covered steel cage outside of your home. The bottom of the cage should be woven to leave a large hole for the rabbit to graze, and check the size of the hole so that they do not get out.
- Move the cage to different points in the garden so that the rabbit will regularly access new plants.
- Keep adding plants other than grass.
Move the rabbits to the large cage when they are adults. Build a new cage on the lawn in the yard and continue feeding the rabbits with green vegetables twice a day. The cage should have an opening or bottom woven with steel wire to leave open and strong enough to prevent predators from attacking.
Release the rabbits in the wild. When the rabbits are between 20 and 23 cm in size in a sitting position, they are large enough to immerse themselves in the wild in a safe place.
- In the event that your rabbit is not self-sufficient, you may be able to keep it in a cage for a little longer, but do not let it grow up in captivity.
Call your local wildlife conservation office for help. If your rabbit is large enough to let go of the wild but is still not self-sufficient, contact a specialist. They have a way of dealing with your particular situation. advertisement

Advice

Always feed your baby rabbits at the same location. They will then begin to associate the place with the food, making each session easier than before.
If you can't remember which rabbit you fed, you can place a small dot with nail polish on the tips of each baby's ears. Then you should feed them in a certain order (such as the order of colors in a rainbow).
Use a window shade to cover the roof of the cage. The weight and easy-to-remove features make it easy to lift up and down, but the rabbit can't knock the film onto the ground.
Make sure your rabbit can breathe. If you put them in a box with a tight lid, you will need to poke holes for ventilation.
Keep your rabbit's environment quiet and avoid human contact.
You should not name your rabbit as this will become attached to them, and will make you want to keep them with you.
Orphaned rabbits, when taken care of by humans, still have a mortality rate of up to 90%. So don't become too attached and take care of them gently and slowly.
Keep quiet around the rabbit. Rabbits are easily frightened by loud noises.
Keep your rabbit safe and keep other animals away.

Warning

Do not give your rabbit too hot milk. They will not drink hot or sour milk.
Do not give spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, or similar foods to your rabbit. These foods can cause diarrhea or bloating. Rabbits cannot digest steam, so this group of vegetables will make their stomachs bulge!
Be especially careful when dealing with wild animals. They can carry many pathogens.
Adjust the heat source used for the incubator to not overheat and not cause the cage to catch fire.
Wild animals should not be kept for longer than is necessary to care for them.
Never give carrots a carrot. Rabbits never eat carrots in the wild, so you should not feed them in captivity.